Thankfully I am wrong. At least about the second part. In mid September my host family takes me and other three-weeks-visiting student from Sweden on a trip across California. For unknown reasons on the very first day of the tour I suddenly change my mind, deciding I am going to stay after all. I just wake up the first morning on the campsite in the trailer and feel great. Couldn't I just quit school and go work at a clothing store at the mall instead? (Another one of my master plans).

We start our tour at Santa Barbara, which does come close to the European vision of California: beach, sun, lifeguard towers and surfers. Just where the heck are all the hot Baywatch chicks??? While the beaches seem comparatively deserted, good looking girls are rather rare.

Our next stops are Monterey and Yosemite National Park. The huge mountains and gigantic redwood trees actually impress me. And so do all the huge hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, where our trip ends. We get back to Hesperia for my l7th birthday on September 23rd.

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Although I am positive about staying, there is no way I will be going back to Hesperia High School. Moreover my host family and I still are not the most perfect match. We don't share any interests. Actually, there is no common ground at all. It's like living with strangers and to them it's probably like having a stranger live with them. Whoever paired us up must have been completely blind - or desperate.  

Then Shellie tells me about the private school her three sons go to. They are 5, 7 and 9 years old. Despite the monthly tuition of USD 240, my mom is so relieved about my change in plans, she agrees to pay without hesitation.

Shellie talks to the people in the office of Hesperia Christian School and they let me take the admission test. While I wait for the results I start praying - which I had probably last done in elementary school. Figure it cannot hurt - just in case God does exist after all. Plus, I do plan to get into a Christian school, right?

On October 4th I am accepted into 10th grade, since there is no space in 11th or 12th grade. Who cares? I'm in!

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Ten days later I finally have an appointment with the principal of my new school. He first explains all the rules of HCS (Hesperia Christian School) to me, which are just a little stricter than at the High School - but ridiculous compared to German schools. It starts off with the dress code according to which guys are only allowed to wear modest pants, which can not be baggy and regular shirts. The hair has to be clear of the eyebrows, collar and mid ear. No kind of jewelry allowed. Girls' dresses cannot be any shorter than 2" above the knee. The midriff must be covered at all times. They are not allowed to wear too much jewelry or use tons of make up. Neither guys nor girls may wear shirts with pictures or slogans (except Christian ones), white shirts, tight pants or sweats, sandals, thongs, colored hair, piercings. On Mondays, girls have to wear dresses while guys need to put on nice dress slacks and tug their shirts in.

Another disliked rule is a tardy, which means you are either too late for your first period or one of the other classes. If you reach your class room only a few seconds after the bell rings, you get a tardy. You are entitled to two free tardies in one quarter, each one after those two is a detention. You are also detained for dress codes, disobedience, cheating etc. If there are more than 10 detentions on your record you will no longer be allowed at school. Of course you may not drink, smoke or do drugs inside or outside of school.

All those rules kind of scare me, but at least they give me a locker - even though it is orange (finally, closer to red!), small and in the Junior High section. The campus is a lot prettier as well. Again the class rooms are located in one story buildings, but they do look like regular houses. There are only 10 classrooms for the Junior and Senior high school combined with benches and tables in-between trees. Since it is a private school there are merely 200 students in the Senior High - of course they all know each other. 

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